Th thing with MAG is he has a wicked pass. Harder than some guys shots. You have to be ready for his pass because it will be slamming hard and usually on the money. Defensively he is improving his game. He is still a butt ugly skater but he has butt ugly speed too.

Gassian was a little better out there. I wonder if we need to put Higgins back with Kesler to create one offensive line. Burrows is fine on the third line but moving Higgins back up is that we will have a true number one line.

Sad to say I'm glad Rome is hurt. Ballard is almost ready to go and should be back soon. To make room for him we would have to send Tanev, Kassian and MAGs down but depending upon where we are in the standings it may be the way to go to get him 1-2 games before the playoffs.

Dank will be ready to go as well. The hobbit should be back soon too.

Barring any more injuries we should be in decent shape heading into the playoffs. Can't wait.

Although it is nice playing spoiler.

A good game. Good old fashioned shut down hockey. Mr. one eye with the only goal and owned the face off circle.

Hockey Widow wrote:Th thing with MAG is he has a wicked pass. Harder than some guys shots. You have to be ready for his pass because it will be slamming hard and usually on the money. Defensively he is improving his game.

I like Gragnani enough to want to see him with the Canucks for a season. I think he has a great deal of potential.

But I am concerned that his weaknesses are exactly the kind of weaknesses that get a kid benched in the playoffs. A couple bad passes turning the puck over in your zone is bad. It is *really* bad when you have an easier play to make, you aren't under much pressure, and your chosen play on wasn't even that much greater of a reward. These are the kind of turnovers that can lead to goals by the opposition when they have nothing else going for them.

On the game, I thought the Canucks were very good. The shot totals were a little deceiving, as the Canucks had the better of the play throughtout the game until when the Kings pulled the goalie. Outstanding job in defensive transition and in the defensive zone tonight.

The Kings would be a worthy playoff opponent and seem built to play playoff hockey. It's a solid team, especially if those who look mentally shot (Richards, to some degree Doughty) can sharpen their game.

Nice to see a GDT that wasn't hijacked for 7 pages with responses to RD's bait.

Can't complain about the win, nor the effort. Not a thing of beauty, mind you, but they took care of the puck and continued hitting bodies and blocking pucks - all good practice for the second season.

Nice to see Manny get one on a night he bought a box for all his medical support staff that helped him with his surgery and recovery. Class move and some good karma.

I'm not worried about the goal totals for the top 2 lines. Really, it's a moot point. They know how to score, have done it for the team in the past, and will simply need to find it when it matters. What else can you ask?

I thought Mags was more noticeable (for good reasons mostly) and still a work in progress, but like what I see.

Ballard coming back before playoffs?? (per HW's post) I've been wondering what the deal is and found little info anywhere, but that's good to hear.

A fast moving David Booth along the boards is a very tough thing to stop.

Jannik Hansen is playing some very inspiring hockey.

Lappy was a gawd darn SCUD missile last night.

We are indeed blessed to have both Luo and Ginger in the stable.

As good as Doughboy is, Higgins is better. When Higgins is coming for you, 9 times of 10, he'll get you unless you move the puck fast. Evan Oberg and a 3rd round draft pick? Fuggedaboutit.

I just sense that there is a Pavel Datsyuk lying within Hank that's just waiting to be unleashed. He's got the hands, he's got the hockey sense, he just doesn't have the strength to be able to stick handle in a phone booth while being checked by 2 or 3 guys like Datsyuk does.

When the twins are on the ice together, they are more than the sum of the parts. However, if Burkie hadn't made that trade, I think the two guys would have become individually very dominant players for their respective teams and their individual alter-egos would be better than who they are today. I dunno. Maybe I'm wrong.

Willie Mitchell played a very good game. Miss that big guy.

The Kings are fizzling out at the wrong time. You know you got a problem when the play-by-play guy is saying the name Dwight King a lot more than Mike Richards or Jeff Carter or even Anze Kopitar. Maybe Holmgren was onto something..